Piracy gangs targeted

China steps up campaign, targets organizers

BEIJING – China’s Ministry of Public Security is aiming to step up its antipiracy efforts with the launch of a campaign to crack down on the illegal reproduction of copyrighted materials.

The campaign, which runs from late July through the end of October, is targeted at bringing organizers and chief culprits of such illegal activities to justice.

In an official notice, the ministry told police stations nationwide to step up investigations into illegal DVD production lines and to arrest heads of gangs making the fake products.

Under Chinese law, a peddler can be sentenced to three to seven years behind bars if he has sold 5,000 or more pirated DVDs.

However, enforcing the law in the case of individual pirates is far from straightforward, as it is difficult to establish exactly how many discs any one retailer may have passed on; hence the focus on the leaders of the gangs making and distributing the DVDs.

The campaign also involves more intensive patrols and checks at piracy hot spots such as railway stations, bus stops, harbors and airports, as well as closer monitoring to shut down storage facilities.